Studies have shown that cyclists who use stationary bikes for short, high intensity interval training can significantly improve performance on the road without having to put in hours of work. For example, cycle as hard as you can on a higher resistance for two minutes, then cycle at a more relaxed pace for five minutes.

IC14 is all about making the ride as comfortable as possible for the user, and as such you will find well-padded handlebars that are also adjustable in height. IC20 Indoor Studio Cycle is a high performance studio bike designed to take your home cardio training up a level. You can burn more than 600 calories an hour with a stationary bike workout depending on the intensity of your workout and body weight, according to Healthline. Although this is not a foldable bike, it is much more robust thanks to its solid frame, and is still pretty convenient for storing discreetly.The saddle and pedals are adjustable and the handlebars also have an in-built heart rate monitor, though they are fixed. IC14 Indoor Studio Cycle – a spin bike that has the functionality and long-lasting qualities of more expensive alternatives. Features a heavy 20kg flywheel, tension control resistance, LCD monitor, tablet holder, water bottle holder plus free water bottle.

Since trying and testing the above exercise bikes, we’ve been keen to track down more budget exercise bikes and a couple have caught our attention. Bring your favourite studio workouts home with the NordicTrack New Commercial S22i Studio Cycle, featuring digital incline and decline, 24 levels of SMR™ Silent Magnetic Resistance and huge 22” full colour capacitive touch display. The Wattbike is very much like outdoor cycling, but without the wind and bad weather, and with much more data.Top-of-the-range models come with monitors to give you real-time feedback, show online cycling classes and simulate outdoor rides, or a tablet holder for using training apps such as Strava and Zwift. While the chunky, clunky indoor bikes of the 90s and noughties have been replaced by sleek spinning machines, finding the best exercise bike for you can still be tricky – as I discovered while testing the best for this piece. It’s not the most compact of bikes, but if you’re shelling out this amount of money, you’ll probably want to show it off anyway. In use, the on-screen metrics were easy to read and understand and the Apex has a comfortable saddle and “aero” handlebars with the resistance coming from a flywheel controlled via a sensitive, but not too sensitive, dial that’s easy to use. The flywheel is perhaps the most important aspect of any spin bike and the one on this Body Power model does not disappoint.